New Moore

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about New Moore, out there in Lynn County. Settle in, because this one starts with open range and ends with an empty schoolhouse, and there's a whole lot of Texas in between. Samuel F.

Singleton came to Texas in the 1870s. He met a man named Marion Virgil Brownfield, though folks called him Pap, and together they settled sixteen sections of land along what is now the Lynn County and Terry County line, back in 1896. Now, Pap and Samuel were partners, but partnerships don't always hold, and eventually the two men split.

Singleton kept the Lynn County portion for himself. Two years later, in 1898, he purchased the thirty-section Slash L Ranch. Add that to what he already had, and the man was sitting on fifty sections of land.

Fifty. He ranched it all. Then, in 1924, Singleton died.

His family put the ranch up for sale, and a man from Dallas, W. McCarty Moore, bought seventeen thousand acres from the Singletons. McCarty Moore divided the land into quarter sections and sold it off to families looking for cheap land.

A fresh start on the South Plains. The old Singleton headquarters home and stock pens were purchased by a man named Frank Rogers, and that location, that old heart of the Singleton operation, became known as New Moore. Also in 1924, McCarty Moore built the Slash L School on the west side of the land known as the Marshall Place.

One room. No water. No electricity.

That was the beginning of a school life out here. A newer schoolhouse was later authorized and built at New Moore itself, right across from the Frank Rogers home, and they called it the New Moore School. Then in 1928, a modern brick school building went up, one mile north of New Moore.

That brick building was something. The whole social life of the community revolved around the school, the general store, the church, and the gin. People had built something real out there on that flat, wide-open ground.

But the thirties came, and with them the Great Depression, followed by the Dust Bowl. The land that had drawn all those families in, that cheap quarter-section land, turned on them. And then, as if the community hadn't already been tested enough, came the horrible drought of 1953.

Families were struggling, hanging on. And that same year, 1953, the New Moore School closed. That was the final blow.

Without the school, the center couldn't hold. Families started leaving, moving toward urban areas, places with schools and churches and commerce close at hand. New Moore, which had risen from a ranch sale and a subdivided dream, quietly emptied out.

The marker stands there now, out on that Lynn County land, making sure the story doesn't go with them.

What the marker says

New Moore was a rural farming community established on the site of the Singleton Slash L Ranch in 1924. Samuel F. Singleton came to Texas in the 1870s. He met Marion Virgil "Pap" Brownfield and they settled sixteen sections of land along the present-day Lynn County/Terry County line in 1896. Brownfield and Singleton eventually split, and Singleton retained the Lynn County portion. In 1898, Singleton purchased the thirty-section Slash L Ranch. He now had 50 sections of land that he ranched. When Singleton died in 1924 his family put up the ranch for sale and W. McCarty Moore from Dallas bought 17,000 acres from the Singletons. He divided the land into quarter sections and sold it to families looking for cheap land. The old Singleton headquarters home and stock pens were purchased by Frank Rogers and this location became known as "New Moore." In 1924, McCarty more built the Slash L School on the west side of the land known as the Marshall Place, a one-room structure without water or electricity. A new schoolhouse was later authorized and built at New Moore, across from the Frank Rogers home. This was called the New Moore School. In 1928, a newer modern brick school building was built one mile north of New Moore. The social life of New Moore residents revolved around the school, the general store, the church and the gin. The Great Depression was followed by the Dust Bowl of the thirties and finally the horrible drought of 1953 which left the families of the community struggling. The final blow to the community was the closing of the New Moore School in 1953. Families started leaving New Moore to move to urban areas, close to schools, churches and commerce.